Millions of disabled and blind Americans receive monthly Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. Most also have help paying medical bills from Medicare or Medicaid.
Many of these individuals would prefer to be working. But taking that leap can be a challenge — especially with the risk of giving up medical insurance and disability payments.
If you’re in that situation — you want to work but don’t want to risk losing benefits — Social Security has just the ticket for you: the Ticket to Work program.
Ticket to Work may be able to help you obtain vocational rehabilitation, training, job referrals, and other employment support services free of charge.
These services are provided at no cost to you by employment networks, which are private organizations or government agencies that have agreed to work with Social Security to provide employment and other support services to beneficiaries with disabilities and state vocational rehabilitation agencies. The Ticket to Work program gives you the opportunity to choose from a variety of employment networks.
Learn more about Ticket to Work and how to get one by calling MAXIMUS at 1-866-968-7842 (TTY, 1-866-833-2967). MAXIMUS is a private company working with Social Security. They can answer most of your questions about and can give you the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of employment networks or the state vocational rehabilitation agency in your area.
In addition to the Ticket to Work program, Social Security has work incentives that help serve as a bridge between disability benefits and financial independence. These work incentives include:
u Cash benefits while you work;
u Medicare or Medicaid while you work; and
u Help with any extra work expenses you may have as a result of your disability.
You can find more information about Social Security and SSI work incentives by visiting The Work Site at www.socialsecurity.gov/work.
John Williams is Social Security public affairs specialist for east central Indiana. His column appears every other Monday on the Business page.
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John Williams: Social Security's Ticket to Work program the hottest ticket in town
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